Tabs

Sunday, November 24, 2013

I wasn’t quite sure I had anything profound to share or even
if I had the motivation to sustain a blog for an extended period of time. But I
loved writing. And I felt that something was missing in my life, whether it was
a lack of career direction as I weathered the peaks and valleys of stay-at-home
momhood, or the loneliness inherent to military life, or just a sudden identity
crisis of a woman approaching her mid-30s.

Whatever that long-forgotten reason was four years ago, I
started my little blog. Because blogs need a theme, I chose to focus on my life
as a military spouse. And because I often compared the military lifestyle to
the unpredictability and jolting ups and downs of a roller coaster, I figured
that would be a fitting name.

Riding the Roller Coaster: Just Another Day in the Life of a
Military Wife.

I rode that roller coaster blog for nearly 3 years.
The blog witnessed my return to the work force, a deployment, dozens of other
military-induced marital separations, countless new friends, bittersweet life
lessons, a ton of new opportunities, and another awesome job that altered my
career path, a job that was a direct result of this little blog as well as the
cause of its hiatus.

But now that roller coaster is over, and with its end comes
the beginning of a new one.

(Side note: Please don’t think this
means I advise against marriage counseling or counseling in general. Quite the
opposite, in fact. I’m a huge advocate of counseling and highly recommend it if
you have even the slightest inkling that you need it. More on that in future
posts.)

I chose not to write publicly about the divorce until it was
final. Throughout the year-long legal separation, I relied on my journal,
writing privately as a way to process the overwhelming transitions I was
facing. Sometimes those writing sessions brought me clarity and a sense of
direction and strength. Sometimes those sessions resulted in nothing but
incoherent brain vomit spilled onto a Word document and 3,000 words or so
later, I was relieved I wasn’t hitting the “Publish” button.

But they always made me realize one thing: at some point I
had to return to my blog.

And that point is now.

So here I am. I considered shutting this blog down and
starting fresh with a brand new one, but despite the fact that the theme will
be different, the name still applies. I may not be riding the roller coaster of
military life anymore, but now I’m riding the roller coaster of divorce.

Same
blog, different ride.

I feel as if I need to say a farewell to the military
community that holds such a special place in my heart, but I’m not a fan of good-byes.
And one of the many lessons military life taught me is that it’s never
good-bye, it’s see you later.So for now
I’ll just say thank you and see you later.

(I also wrote an essay for the New York Times At War blog
that is my way of expressing my gratitude to the military lifestyle. It was
kind of my official divorce coming-out. Yes, most people would love to have a
New York Times wedding announcement. I have a New York Times divorce
announcement.)